Hello from Cali - and a few questions

by Caligirl Fri 22 Nov 2019, 1:23 am

Hi all, I'm from California and I stumbled over this forum by accident and decided to sign up Smile

I've had mice before, mostly Gerbils and one house mouse that I saved from being killed in the basement. He was very shy at first but became extremely close to me.

Now a good friend got me a fancy mouse from a pet store about 3 weeks ago and I could really use some input. He came on my hand very quickly and was very focused on me but lately he's acting a bit funny. I usually sit with him in a little playground area to become more acquainted and to train him to sit with me but sometimes when I take him in there becomes very jumpy all of a sudden and there isn't really a reason for it. It almost looks a bit erratic. I also feel that on some days he looks sad (sitting in a soot with his head down) if I don't spend as much time with him. But this sudden jumpiness is a bit concerning to me. Any ideas why he does that?

Also, I'm planning on taking him out without the playground eventually but is there a way to train him to stay away from wires?

Any input would be greatly appreciated Smile

by Robin~ Fri 22 Nov 2019, 6:41 am

Hello!

In their younger days, mice are very jumpy. They’ll calm down eventually though; for me I think it was a month or two after I got my girls. Then, they don’t become nearly as jumpy and a lot easier to tame Smile

Until this phase ends, I recommend using a taller, solid-walled playpen. My mice typically couldn’t jump over 18” for reference, so something like 2’ tall would work, so he can’t jump out and escape.

All mice are social animals, but male mice are territorial and, in most cases, must be housed alone. This conflict in behavior requires you to spend as much time as possible with your mouse to avoid these depressive behaviors. This can be difficult with hoppers, but it’s critical for their mental health to have a few hours of social interaction daily.
It’s also important for mice to be stimulated during the times where you can’t be there, so I strongly recommend giving them as large a cage as you can provide and making it as busy as possible. You shouldn’t be able to see the bedding if you filled the cage properly. Be sure to change up his set up every few days to a week so he has more to explore. Adding in new toys/forms of enrichment (such as different types of hay, bird toys, different pieces of reptile cork, cardboard boxes, mugs/cups, planting pots, or jars) isn’t also very beneficial.

Best of luck with your new boy!

Hello from Cali - and a few questions

Hello from Cali - and a few questions

Re: Hello from Cali - and a few questions